Baha'i Principle of Religious Unity and the Challenge of Radical Pluralism

The Bahá'í principle of religious unity is unique among the
world's religious traditions in that its primary basis is found within its own
sacred texts and not in commentaries of those texts. The Bahá'í
principle affirms the existence of a common transcendent source from which the
religions of the world originate and receive their inspiration. The
Bahá'í writings also emphasize the process of personal
transformation brought about through faith as a unifying factor in all
religious traditions. The apparent differences between the world's religious
traditions are explained by appealing to a perspectivist approach grounded in a
process metaphysics. For this reason, I have characterized the
Bahá'í view as "process perspectivism". Radical pluralism is the
greatest philosophical challenge to the Bahá'í principle of
religious unity. The main criticisms made by the radical pluralists are briefly
examined.

Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Master of Arts

By Dann J. May, B.S, M.S.

Denton, Texas, December, 1993

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to Dr. George James of the University of North Texas
for not only supporting my thesis and for his encouragement and helpful advice,
but also for his friendship and help in guiding my career change from geology
to philosophy. Thanks are also due to Dr. Max Oelschlaeger and Dr. Martin Yaffe
from the University of North Texas for their advice and for reading and
criticizing the manuscript.

Invaluable discussions relating to this study were provided by Dr. Todd Lawson
of the University of Toronto, Mr. Kambiz RafRaf, and my father, Mr. Thomas May.
I would also like to thank my students as well as the members of the
Bahá'í community, who over the years have had to put up with my
speculations and ruminations about the whole question of religious pluralism
and who offered ideas of their own.

Thanks are also due to my wife, Phyllis Bernard, and my mother, Virginia May,
for their support and encouragement throughout this endeavor. I would also like
to thank Kathy Copeland of the Philosophy and Religion Studies Department at
the University of North Texas for all her years of help related to my studies
and to teaching classes at the University.